A portable device and a method for providing a user interface (ui) mode are provided. The portable device includes a display unit, a sensor unit for sensing a user's motion, and a control unit for controlling, if the user's motion is sensed by the sensor unit, the display unit to release a standby mode of the portable device and to output a ui mode screen corresponding to a type of the motion.
|
10. A method of providing a user interface (ui) mode in a portable device, the method comprising:
identifying a type of a user's gesture sensed by a sensor;
in response to sensing the user's gesture, identifying whether the user's gesture is a standby mode release gesture, and
in response to identifying that the user's gesture is the standby mode release gesture, releasing a standby mode of the portable device and outputting a touch user interface (ui) mode screen that operates according to the touch input when the identified user's gesture is the touch input that moves an icon to a specified area on the display, and a proximity ui mode screen that operates according to the proximity input when the identified user's gesture is the proximity input for a predetermined threshold of time,
wherein an arrangement and at least one of a size and a shape of a menu output according to the proximity ui mode screen is different from an arrangement and at least one of a size, and a shape of a menu output according to the touch ui mode screen.
1. A portable device comprising:
a display;
a sensor configured to sense a user's gesture comprising one of a touch input where the display is touched and a proximity input where a motion is input over the display, without touching the display; and
a processor configured to:
identify a type of the sensed user's gesture,
in response to the user's gesture being sensed by the sensor, identify whether the user's gesture is a standby mode release gesture, and
in response to identifying the user's gesture is in the standby mode release gesture, release a standby mode of the portable device and output a touch user interface (ui) mode screen that operates according to the touch input when the identified user's gesture is the touch input that moves an icon to a specified area on the display, and a proximity ui mode screen that operates according to the proximity input when the identified user's gesture is the proximity input for a predetermined threshold of time,
wherein an arrangement and at least one of a size and a shape of a menu output according to the proximity ui mode screen is different from an arrangement and at least one of a size and a shape of a menu output according to the touch ui mode screen.
2. The portable device as claimed in
3. The portable device as claimed in
4. The portable device as claimed in
5. The portable device as claimed in
6. The portable device as claimed in
7. The portable device as claimed in
8. The portable device as claimed in
9. The portable device as claimed in
11. The method as claimed in
in response to the user's gesture being a touch input, outputting the identified type of the user's gesture as a touch input type and the ui mode screen as a touch ui mode screen; and
in response to the sensed user's gesture being a proximity input, outputting the identified type of the sensed user's gesture as a proximity input type and the ui mode screen as a proximity ui mode screen.
12. The method as claimed in
13. The method as claimed in
14. The method as claimed in
15. The method as claimed in
16. The method as claimed in
17. The method as claimed in
18. The method as claimed in
|
This application is a Continuation of application Ser. No. 13/242,697 filed in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Sep. 23, 2011, and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a) to Application No. 10-2010-0120025, filed on Nov. 29, 2010, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the entire content of each of which is incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention relates generally to a User Interface (UI) mode, and more particularly to a portable device and a method for providing a UI mode.
Due to recent developments in technology, various portable devices, such as smart phones, cellular phones, Portable Media Players (PMPs), etc., receive input of user commands through a touch screen.
A capacitive touch screens have been primarily used for this purpose, which detects a touch point such that a charge field is spread over the surface of the touch screen, and if a user's finger, which is a kind of conductor, touches the charge field, the touch screen senses the charge passing through the user's finger.
However, if a non-conductive object touches the capacitive screen, such a touch is not recognized. Particularly, in a cold weather (such in a cold countries including Russia, or in a ski area, for example), the touch screen may be commonly operated by a gloved hand, and the capacitive touch screen is unable to recognize such a gloved hand that is not a conductor. Accordingly, despite the cold weather, a user must pull off the gloves in order to operate the capacitive touch, which is inconvenient for the user.
In addition, in other cases where may be difficult to operate the touch screen with a general touch operation, such as in the case where the hand is stained with foreign substances, in the case of driving a car, and in the case of taking a shower, it is necessary to operate the portable device without touching the touch screen.
Accordingly, there is a need for methods for operating the portable device through reception of an input of another user's motion other than touch input.
The present invention has been made to address at least the above problems and/or disadvantages and to provide at least the advantages described below. Accordingly, an aspect of the present invention provides portable device and a method of providing a UI thereof, which can release a standby mode and output a UI mode screen that corresponds to the type of a motion if the motion is sensed by a sensor unit.
According to one aspect of the present invention, a portable device is provided. The portable device comprises a display unit; a sensor unit for sensing a user's motion; and a processor configured to control, if the user's motion is sensed by the sensor unit, the display unit to release a standby mode of the portable device and output a User Interface (UI) mode screen corresponding to a type of the sensed motion.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a method is provided for providing a User Interface (UI) mode in a portable device by determining whether a user's motion is sensed; releasing, if the user's motion is sensed, a standby mode of the portable device; and outputting a UI mode screen corresponding to a type of the sensed motion.
The above and other aspects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention are described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that throughout the drawings, the same drawing reference numerals will be construed to refer to the same elements, features and structures. In addition, descriptions of well-known functions and constructions may be omitted for clarity and conciseness.
Referring to
The sensor unit 110 senses a user's motion to input a specified command to the portable device 100. In this case, the sensor unit 110 includes at least one of a touch screen for sensing a touch input, a proximity sensor for sensing a proximity input, an acceleration sensor for sensing an acceleration change of the portable device 100, and a gyro sensor for sensing rotation of the portable device 100.
Specifically, the touch screen senses the touch input that is made by a user's direct touch of the screen with a user's finger. In present example, the touch screen may be a capacitive touch screen, but, others types touch screen such as a resistive touch screen may also be used in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. The portable device 100 can sense the touch input through a general touch screen operation.
The proximity sensor senses the proximity input generated by a user's movement over the screen in a state where a user's finger or an object is spaced apart from the screen. Specifically, if the object or the user's finger moves over the proximity sensor while being spaced apart for a specified range, such as 1 to 3 cm, from the screen, the proximity sensor senses the proximity input.
An Infra-Red (IR) sensor may be used as the proximity sensor. Particularly, as illustrated in
Further, three IR sensors may be provided at each corner in a manner that two of the three IR sensors emit an IR signal and one remaining IR sensor receives the reflected IR signal. Accordingly, the IR sensors can sense whether the object has moved over the sensors.
The above-described types of proximity sensors are merely provided as examples, and different types of proximity sensors such as a Radio Frequency (RF) sensor may also be used in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. Similarly, the above-described positions of the proximity sensors are merely provided as examples, and proximity sensors may be positioned other position, such as at the center point of each side of the portable device 100. Further, the number of areas in which the above-described proximity sensors are positioned, as well as the number of proximity sensors themselves, are merely provided as examples, and the proximity sensors may alternatively be provided in five or more areas, for example, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention.
The acceleration sensor senses the change of acceleration of the portable device 100. Specifically, the acceleration sensor senses the direction of the acceleration input by sensing the acceleration change that occurs when a user shakes or hits the portable device 100. For example, if the user shakes the portable device 100 in the leftward direction or hits the left side surface of the portable device 100, the acceleration sensor senses the increase of the acceleration in the left direction. Accordingly, the portable device 100 can recognize that the acceleration input in the left direction has been sensed.
Further, the gyro sensor senses the rotation of the portable device 100. Specifically, the gyro sensor senses the rotation that occurs when the user shakes or hits the portable device 100. At this time, the rotation direction includes at least one of pitch, roll, and yaw directions of the portable device. For example, if the user shakes the portable device 100 so that the left side surface of the portable device 100 is moved downward, the gyro sensor senses that the portable device 100 is moved in the counterclockwise direction based on the roll direction of the portable device 100. Accordingly, the portable device 100 can recognize that the rotation input in the left direction has been sensed.
As described above, the sensor unit 110 receives an input of the user's motion through diverse sensors. However, the sensor unit 110 is not limited to the above-described examples, and the user's motion may be sensed by another sensor such as a geomagnetic sensor in accordance with embodiments of the present invention.
The display unit 120 displays various kinds of mode screens under the control of the control unit 130. For example, the display unit 120 can display a standby mode screen that corresponds to a state where the user does not use the portable device. Further, in accordance with the type of motion input by the user, the display unit 120 can display one of a touch UI mode that operates according to the touch input, a proximity UI mode that is operated by the proximity input, an acceleration UI mode that operates according to the acceleration input, and a rotation UI mode that operates according to the rotation input.
The control unit 130 controls functions of the portable device 100 in accordance with the user's motion input by the sensor unit 110.
Specifically, if a specified user's motion is sensed by the sensor unit 110, the control unit 130 controls the display unit 120 to release the standby mode of the portable device 100 and to output a UI mode screen that corresponds to the type of the user's motion. In this case, the control unit 130 provides at least one mode selected from among the touch UI mode, the proximity UI mode, the acceleration UI mode, and the rotation UI mode in accordance with the type of the motion input by the user.
Hereinafter, with reference to
In the standby mode screen state, an icon 310 is displayed on the touch screen of the portable device as illustrated in
Herein, the term “touch UI mode” refers to a mode for performing the function of the portable device 100 through the sensing of the user's touch input through the touch screen. Accordingly, the control unit 130 controls the portable device 100 using the touch input sensed by the touch screen. The touch UI mode screen provides general functions of the portable device 100 as well as diverse application menus. For example, as illustrated in
As described above, the standby mode can be released by moving the icon 310 to a specified area. However, the standby mode can also be released by other methods in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. For example, the standby mode can be released by another method using the touch screen such as inputting of a password through the touch screen.
In the standby mode state as described above with reference to
In this case, the control unit 130 provides the proximity UI mode screen only when continuous proximity input (i.e., the left/right round trip) has been performed three times. Specifically, if the proximity input in the left and right directions is not sensed within a specified time (for example, 2 seconds) after a first proximity input in the left and right directions is made, the control unit 130 provides the display screen in the previous step. For example, if the proximity input in the left and right directions is not sensed within two seconds in a state where the two times proximity input in the left and right directions are sensed and the screen as illustrated in
As described above, through the three continuous proximity inputs in the left and right directions, the control unit 130 releases the standby mode and provides the proximity UI mode.
Herein, the term “proximity UI mode” refers to a mode in which the proximity input according to the user's movement, which is spaced apart from the touch screen, is sensed and the function of the portable device 100 is performed. Accordingly, the control unit 130 controls the portable device 100 using the proximity input sensed by the proximity sensor. Hereinafter, with reference to
As illustrated first on the left side of
As illustrated second in
As illustrated third in
As illustrated fourth in
As illustrated fifth in
As described herein with reference to
Specifically, if the motion is performed in a first direction, the control unit 130 selects the first menu and performs a function that corresponds to the first menu, and if the motion is performed in a second direction, the control unit 130 selects the second menu and performs a function that corresponds to the second menu. For example, if the left sweeping action is input, the control unit 130 selects a phone call menu to perform a call function, and if the right sweep action is input, the control unit 130 selects a photographing menu to perform a photographing function.
Next, for the proximity UI mode, the proximity UI mode screen displays a menu for a general function such as a phone call menu and a text menu provided by the portable device 100. In this case, the proximity UI mode screen can provide menus the number of which is smaller than the number of menus provided by the touch UI mode screen, because when the proximity UI mode, the input method is limited in comparison to the input method of the touch UI mode, and thus it is necessary to display menus for essential functions.
The proximity UI mode screen also provides the menu arrangement and menu size, which are different from those of the touch UI mode screen. For example, as illustrated in
In addition to the touch UI mode and the proximity UI mode as described above with reference to
Further, if the portable device 100 is rotated three times in the left and right directions, based on the roll direction of the portable device 100 in the standby mode screen state, the control unit 130 releases the standby mode and provides the rotation UI mode. In this case, the rotation UI mode refers to a mode in which the rotation input according to the gyro sensor is sensed and the portable device 100 is controlled accordingly.
As described above, by providing diverse modes according to the type of the motion, the portable device 100 can be controlled even in the case where the capacitive touch screen is unable to be used due to climatic conditions or specified circumstances.
Referring back to the control unit 130 of
Referring to
If the motion input to the portable device 100 is determined to be the standby mode release motion by the touch input in step S620, the portable device outputs the touch UI mode screen, in step S625. Then, the portable device 100 converts the present mode into the touch UI mode, and performs the function of the portable device 100 according to the touch input, in step S630.
However, upon a determination that the motion input to the portable device 100 is not the touch input in step S610, and the proximity input is performed in step S615, the portable device 100 determines whether the input motion is the standby mode release motion according to the proximity input, in step S635. Specifically, the portable device 100 determines whether the input motion is a motion that including three round trips in the left and right directions while being spaced apart from the touch screen, which is defined as the standby mode release motion according to the proximity input.
If the motion input to the portable device 100 is determined to be the standby mode release motion according to the proximity input in step S635, the portable device 100 outputs the proximity UI mode screen in step S640. In this case, the number of proximity UI mode screens may be less than the number of menus that are displayed on the touch UI mode screen, and the size and arrangement of the proximity UI mode screen may be different from the size and arrangement of the menu that is displayed on the touch UI mode screen.
While the proximity UI mode screen is displayed, the portable device 100 determines whether there is an input for changing the present mode to the touch UI mode, in step S645. Specifically, the portable device 100 determines whether a touch UI mode change icon that is displayed on the proximity UI mode screen or a touch UI mode change button that is positioned on the outside of the case of the portable device 100, and determines whether to change the proximity UI mode to the touch UI mode.
At this time, if an input for changing the present mode to the touch UI mode is received in step S645, the portable device 100 outputs the touch UI mode screen in step S625, and perform the function of the portable device by the touch input in step S630.
However, if no input for changing the present mode to the touch UI mode is received in step S645, the portable device 100 performs the function of the portable device by the proximity input in step S650.
In the method according to
As described above, according to embodiments of the present invention, a portable device can be controlled even when the touch screen is unable to be used due to climatic conditions or other specified circumstances.
While the invention has been shown and described with reference to certain embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, as defined by the appended claims.
Park, Yong-gook, Jung, Ji-su, Han, Kuk-hyun, Eom, Ju-il
Patent | Priority | Assignee | Title |
Patent | Priority | Assignee | Title |
6704032, | Oct 27 2000 | Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC | Methods and arrangements for interacting with controllable objects within a graphical user interface environment using various input mechanisms |
7653883, | Jul 30 2004 | Apple Inc | Proximity detector in handheld device |
8125312, | Dec 08 2006 | Malikie Innovations Limited | System and method for locking and unlocking access to an electronic device |
8363008, | Jul 23 2008 | LG Electronics Inc. | Mobile terminal and event control method thereof |
8375315, | May 04 2009 | LG Electronics Inc.; LG Electronics Inc | Managing a calendar through a touch interface and graphically displaying the change history |
8560020, | Apr 10 2007 | Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. | Apparatus and method for controlling a touchscreen in a wireless terminal |
9600139, | Dec 17 2008 | Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. | Electronic device and method for implementing user interfaces associated with touch screens |
9965168, | Nov 29 2010 | Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd | Portable device and method for providing user interface mode thereof |
20010015718, | |||
20020175896, | |||
20040056870, | |||
20050068337, | |||
20050091574, | |||
20050237310, | |||
20060101338, | |||
20060101354, | |||
20070057912, | |||
20070113111, | |||
20070145132, | |||
20070259717, | |||
20070287541, | |||
20080165022, | |||
20080170042, | |||
20090064055, | |||
20090138194, | |||
20090184933, | |||
20090244019, | |||
20090322691, | |||
20100007613, | |||
20100020035, | |||
20100123664, | |||
20100138037, | |||
20100162109, | |||
20100229125, | |||
20100235732, | |||
20100251152, | |||
20100261505, | |||
20100299635, | |||
20100306702, | |||
20110003621, | |||
20110043826, | |||
20110053641, | |||
20110099524, | |||
20110102345, | |||
20110102464, | |||
20110124369, | |||
20110256019, | |||
20110316679, | |||
EP1991832, | |||
JP2008140064, | |||
KR1020020083961, | |||
KR1020080049911, | |||
KR1020080067885, | |||
KR1020090005796, | |||
KR1020090100320, | |||
KR1020100001601, | |||
KR1020100010860, | |||
KR1020100013420, | |||
KR1020100052378, | |||
KR1020100054290, |
Executed on | Assignor | Assignee | Conveyance | Frame | Reel | Doc |
May 07 2018 | Samsung Electronics Co. , Ltd | (assignment on the face of the patent) | / |
Date | Maintenance Fee Events |
May 07 2018 | BIG: Entity status set to Undiscounted (note the period is included in the code). |
Nov 11 2024 | REM: Maintenance Fee Reminder Mailed. |
Date | Maintenance Schedule |
Mar 23 2024 | 4 years fee payment window open |
Sep 23 2024 | 6 months grace period start (w surcharge) |
Mar 23 2025 | patent expiry (for year 4) |
Mar 23 2027 | 2 years to revive unintentionally abandoned end. (for year 4) |
Mar 23 2028 | 8 years fee payment window open |
Sep 23 2028 | 6 months grace period start (w surcharge) |
Mar 23 2029 | patent expiry (for year 8) |
Mar 23 2031 | 2 years to revive unintentionally abandoned end. (for year 8) |
Mar 23 2032 | 12 years fee payment window open |
Sep 23 2032 | 6 months grace period start (w surcharge) |
Mar 23 2033 | patent expiry (for year 12) |
Mar 23 2035 | 2 years to revive unintentionally abandoned end. (for year 12) |